Mercy, Reviewed in the Hamilton Spectator (Excerpt)

January 18, 2003

By Gary Curtis

A DEBUT THAT’S PURE MAGIC: Emotive power and emotional resonance propel a first novel

The first novel by Winnipeg writer Alissa York is stunning in its emotive power and emotional resonance. York’s prose is taut and finely honed; her themes and the characters and settings that propel them are far-reaching and profound. It’s sensual, full of yearning and longing for the heat of love. . . . There’s been a recent gnashing of teeth in Canadian literary circles, decrying the lack of urban, urbane fiction. Works, such as Mercy, that focus on rural lives are no less sophisticated, no less compelling, no less inclusive. York has wrought a wonderful, thrilling, complex, immensely satisfying tale.